Musical Form
Requiem
A musical setting of the Mass for the dead.
Choral
A requiem is a musical setting of the Requiem Mass, the Catholic liturgy for the dead, for chorus, vocal soloists, and (in most concert versions) orchestra. It follows a largely fixed Latin text - sections like the Introit, Kyrie, Dies irae, and Agnus Dei recur across almost every requiem setting, which makes it interesting to compare how differently composers treat the exact same words. The name comes from the text's first words, Requiem aeternam - "eternal rest."
The sections
A typical requiem moves through some or all of these parts:
- Introit - Requiem aeternam, a prayer for eternal rest.
- Kyrie - "Lord, have mercy."
- Sequence (Dies irae) - a long medieval poem about the Day of Judgment, often the most dramatic part of a setting.
- Offertory, Sanctus, and Benedictus.
- Agnus Dei - "Lamb of God."
- Communion - Lux aeterna, "eternal light."
- Sometimes the Libera me ("Deliver me") and In paradisum ("Into paradise"), from the burial service.
The Dies irae has a life of its own. Its medieval chant melody has been quoted by composers from Berlioz and Liszt to Rachmaninoff, and by film composers as an instant signal of doom.
How the requiem developed
The earliest requiems were plainchant. The oldest surviving polyphonic setting is by the 15th-century Franco-Flemish composer Johannes Ockeghem. The form's modern history really begins with Mozart's Requiem (1791), left unfinished at his death and completed by his student - the manuscript pictured above breaks off after just eight bars of the "Lacrimosa."
Some requiems stay close to their liturgical, devotional origins; others, especially in the Romantic era, become large-scale dramatic concert works. Hector Berlioz's Grande Messe des morts (1837) calls for four brass bands placed around the hall, and Verdi's Requiem is famously operatic in scale and intensity, closer in spirit to his operas than to a hushed church service.
Not every requiem even uses the traditional Latin text. Brahms's A German Requiem sets his own selection of German biblical passages instead, and deliberately shifts the focus away from the traditional Latin text's fear of judgment toward comforting the living who are grieving. Gabriel Fauré's Requiem takes a gentler path still, cutting the fire-and-brimstone Dies irae sequence almost entirely and aiming for a serene, consoling mood rather than dramatic terror - a useful contrast to Verdi's approach. Maurice Duruflé's Requiem (1947) builds its music from the ancient chant melodies themselves.
The 20th century's most powerful example is Britten's War Requiem (1962), written for the consecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, which interleaves the Latin Mass with Wilfred Owen's First World War poems.
Famous requiems
- Mozart - Requiem in D minor (1791).
- Berlioz - Grande Messe des morts (1837).
- Brahms - A German Requiem (1868).
- Verdi - Requiem (1874).
- Fauré - Requiem (1888 – 1900, in several versions).
- Britten - War Requiem (1962).
Composers to know: Mozart's Requiem (left unfinished at his death and completed by a student) and Verdi's Requiem are the two most performed and most contrasting settings.
Where to start listening: Mozart's Requiem, particularly its Lacrimosa movement, is the genre's most famous single passage. Then hear the Dies irae from Verdi's Requiem, followed by the "Pie Jesu" from Fauré's, to feel just how differently composers can approach the same text.